News Center- The 52nd ordinary general assembly of the Istanbul Bar Association was held at the Haliç Congress Center between October 22 and 23. Filiz Saraç, a candidate from the Principle Contemporary Lawyers Group, has been elected as the president of the Istanbul Bar Association. During the voting process, the photographs of Tahir Elçi, the head of the Diyarbakır Bar Association who was killed in an armed attack on November 28, 2015 in Diyarbakır's Sur district, and Ebru Timtik, a human rights lawyer who died after going on hunger strike in pursuit of a fair trial, were hung on the walls of the congress center. The Istanbul Bar Association also hung a banner reading, “We defend Gezi (The Gezi protests)”.

The slogan “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” was chanted

The members of the Lawyers Association for Freedom (ÖHD) and the Lawyers from Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) sang Kurdish songs and danced. Then, İlknur Alcan, Co-chair of the ÖHD issued a statement on behalf of the women members of the ÖHD. She condemned the attack on lawyer Aryen Turan for chanting the slogan, “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi (Women, Life, Freedom)” after her speech during the election of the Izmir Bar Association. İlknur Alcan also chanted the slogan in order to support her colleague. At that moment, the women members of the ÖHD chanted the slogan for minutes.

Filiz Saraç was elected as the new president

Candidates of the Principle First Contemporary Lawyers Group, the Independent Lawyers Group, Lawyers’ Rights Group, Young Lawyers’ Group, Strong Bar Group, Istanbul Lawyers’ Union, Istanbul Nationalist Lawyers Group and First Lawyers’ Group competed for the presidency. According to the unofficial election results, Filiz Saraç, the candidate from the Principle Contemporary Lawyers Group, has won the election by getting 7096 votes. Thus, she has become the first female president of the association in its 144-year history.